iNDICA NEWS BUREAU-
Acclaimed Indian-origin writer Salman Rushdie has openly supported Vice President and current presumptive Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris, stating that she is the only person who has the ability to stop Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump from dragging the US towards authoritarianism.
Rushdie made the comment at the South Asian Men for Harris, a 3-hour-long virtual event which took place on July 27.
Harris, who has bagged the support of three out of five Indian-American Representatives, now has the backing of Rushdie, a prominent figure in the PIO community.
“It’s a critical moment. I’m a boy from Bombay and it’s great to see an Indian woman running for the White House. And my wife is African-American, so we like the fact that a Black and Indian woman is running for the White House,” news agency PTI quoted Rushdie as saying. Harris is of Indian-Jamaican descent.
As per reports, apart from Rushdie, the virtual event was attended by Harini Krishnan; Nihal Mehta; Deven Parekh; Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi; NC State Sen. Jay Chaudhuri; Arvind Venkat; Neil Makhija; Aasif Mandvi; Prof. Raza Rumi; Rep. Ro Khanna; Wajahat Ali; Mayor Aftab Pureval; Neha Dewan; Gautam Raghavan; Councilmember Shekar Krishnan; Raj Goyle; Prof. Walter Greason; Salil Tripathi; Samil Patil; Raoul Bhavnani and Rajan Shah.
As some of the biggest names from the Indian-American community attended it, Rushdie said they were supporting Kamala Harris the leader and not just someone who belongs from the community.
“We would not be gathering in this way let’s say for Usha Vance or Nikki Haley,” he said. Usha Vance is the Indian-American wife of Republican Vice-Presidential nominee JD Vance, while Haley, another Indian-American, is a former diplomat and ex-South Carolina governor.
Harris’ campaign started just a week ago, after Joe Biden announced his decision to step down from the race on July 21. In just seven days, the Vice President has seen her approval rating go up, securing nods from current boss Biden and former President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama.
“The conversation has entirely changed with the arrival of Kamala Harris’s candidacy and it’s changed most joyfully, a way of optimism and positive, forward-thinking,” Rushdie said.
The writer urged the community to vote for Harris because “we can’t allow the alternative to happen”. He also attacked Donald Trump by calling him a “hollow man”.
“This hollow man without a single noble quality, trying to drag this country towards authoritarianism. That cannot happen,” he said. Harris, however, is yet to secure her official nomination, which is expected to happen during the Democrat national convention in August.
Rushdie also sounded confident about Harris’ ability to stop Trump. He added that while Trump’s star power might have helped him win the election in 2016, the Republican candidate looks old now.
“Kamala looks like the superstar. And I think the charisma she brings to the campaign could be critical in the weeks ahead,” Rushdie said.
The author also implored the writer community, to “use every power we have, whether it’s speaking out, writing, arguing, we’ve got to win this argument. And writers are pretty good at arguing. So I think we’re going to do our best”.
